Pour le Mérite
 | The Blue Max (version graded with oak leaves) |
|
The
Order Pour le Mérite, known informally as the
Blue Max, was
Prussia's highest military
order until the end of
World War I.
The award was first founded in
1740 by
Friedrich the Great, named in
French, the language of the royal court,
for merit. Until
1810 the award was both a civilian and military honor. In January of that year, Prussian
King Friedrich Wilhelm III decreed that the award could only be presented to serving military personnel.
In
1842,
King Friedrich Wilhelm IV founded the "peace class" of the award, the
Pour le Mérite für Wissenschaften und Künste ("Order Pour le Mérite for Science and Arts"), with the three sections:
humanities,
natural science and
fine arts. One of the most famous artists who received the peace class of
Pour le Mérite was
Käthe Kollwitz (she was deprived of it later by the
Nazis).
The medal was a blue enameled
Maltese Cross with
eagles between the arms, and the royal
cipher and the words
"Pour le Mérite" on the cross.
In
1866 a special military
Grand Cross class of the award was established. This grade of the award was given to those who, through their actions, caused the retreat or destruction of an army. Although many in the military hierarchy wished to award
Manfred von Richthofen this grade of the
Pour le Merite, he was ineligible because of this stipulation. Therefore, Prussia resorted to the expedient of giving Richthofen a slightly less prestigious honor, the rarely-awarded
Order of the Red Eagle.
The award gained international fame during
World War I. Although it could be awarded to any military officer, its most famous recipients were the pilots of the German air arm, whose exploits were celebrated in wartime
propaganda. In the aerial war a
fighter pilot was initially entitled to the award upon downing eight enemy aircraft.
Ace Max Immelmann was the first airman to receive the award, after which it became known among his fellow pilots, on account of its color and its recipient, as the Blue Max — in German,
Blauer Max.
The number of aircraft downed to receive the award continued to increase during the war; by early 1917 it required destroying sixteen (16) enemy airplanes, and by war's end the approximate figure was thirty (30). However, other aviation recipients included
Zeppelin commanders, bomber and observation crews, and at least one balloon observer.
Recipients of the Blue Max were required to wear the badge whenever in uniform.
Notable recipients included Field Marshal
Leonhard Graf von Blumenthal,
Manfred von Richthofen, better known as the
"Red Baron",
Hermann Göring, who later became one of the most senior leaders of the
Third Reich,
Erwin Rommel, the famed
"Desert Fox" of
WWII,
Kress von Kressenstein,
Felix von Luckner who sank a score of enemy ships without anyone dying on either side, and
Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck , who led German forces in the guerrilla campaign in German East Africa. The last living holder of the
Pour le Mérite was
novelist Ernst Jünger who died in
1998 and who, at the age of 23, was the youngest ever recipient as well.
Although many of its most famous recipients were junior officers, especially pilots, more than a third of all awards went to generals and admirals. Junior officers (army captains and lieutenants and their navy equivalents) accounted for only about 25% of all awards. Senior officer awards tended to be more for outstanding leadership in combat than for individual acts of bravery.
The award was abolished with
Kaiser Wilhelm II's abdication on
9 November 1918.
In
1952, the
President of
West Germany,
Theodor Heuss, revived the peace class of the order as an autonomous organization under the protection of the German President (although it is not a state order like the
Bundesverdienstkreuz). This revised order is awarded for achievements in the arts and sciences, rather than for military merit. Laureates of the present are e.g.
Wim Wenders (filmmaker),
Rudolf Mößbauer (physicist and Nobel Prize winner) and
Umberto Eco (writer).
* http://www.firstworldwar.com/atoz/pourlemerite.htm
* http://www.pourlemerite.org
